I use a weekly report to prepare for our management meeting. Reporter will bring that same idea to other restaurants: sales, labor, reservations, calls, and reviews in one place, with the changes worth talking about.
Planned. The report format is already in weekly use.
Arrives
Monday morning, covering Monday to Sunday
Built from
POS, reservations, phones, reviews, calendar, weather
Calculated by
Fixed, written rules. AI never produces a number.
Where it comes from
Based on the report I use every week.
Each week I send my managers a report on our restaurant. It brings together the POS, reservations, phone calls, reviews, calendar, and weather. Some information still comes in by hand. The numbers follow fixed calculations, so we know how they were worked out.
The point is to have a useful conversation about the week. What changed? What needs attention? What are we going to do about it? If information is missing or doesn’t agree, the report says so.
Reporter will make this available to other restaurants, starting with Toast. It’s still planned, not a finished app. The example below uses the layout of my report, with a fictional restaurant and made-up numbers, names, and reviews.
Sample report
Sample Bistro, week of October 19.
A fictional 70-seat neighborhood restaurant serving brunch, lunch, and dinner, with about $36,000 in weekly sales. Hover or tap the charts for values. Switch to the manager version to see what a reader without wage access gets. Simulate a failed source to see how a gap is reported.
Mon Oct 19 – Sun Oct 25, 2026prepared Mon Oct 26, 7:00 am
8 of 9 sources complete7 of 9 sources complete · needs attention: second review site (signed out 9 days), Reservations (did not finish)
This week's meeting agree the action, owner, date, and measure of success
No agreed commitments recorded yet. Record decisions after the meeting; the suggestions below are not assignments.
Decisions to make · suggested from this week's evidence
Review Friday and Saturday phone coverage: 9 of 23 missed calls fell between 5 and 7 pm, and the host-stand answer rate was 91.4% against a 95% target. Suggested lead: GM.
Dessert attach was 18.4 per 100 guests, under the target of 20 for a third straight week. Suggested lead: chef.
Halloween is Saturday: 176 covers are on the book for Oct 31, against 188 seated last Saturday. The published schedule still has 1 open server shift that night. Suggested lead: GM.
Halloween is Saturday: forward bookings are withheld because the reservation source did not finish. The published schedule still has 1 open server shift that night. Suggested lead: GM.
Review rating4.43
▼ −0.07 stars vs 13-wk avg
■ steady last 4 wks vs prior 13
7 new reviews
Missed-call rate10.7%
▼ −2.2 pp vs 4-wk avg
▼ −0.9 pp vs 13-wk avg
23 missed of 214 inbound
Guests1,128
▲ +2.4% vs last week
▲ +4.5% vs 13-wk avg
▲ +6.3% vs last year
Average check$71.25
▲ +1.2% vs last week
▲ +0.6% vs 13-wk avg
▲ +1.1% vs last year
Sales per guest$32.34
▲ +1.2% vs last week
▲ +0.7% vs 13-wk avg
▲ +1.0% vs last year
≥ $32 target · met
Net sales$36.5K
▲ +3.6% vs last week
▲ +5.3% vs 13-wk avg
▲ +7.4% vs last year
Sales by day, by week, and the direction of travel
By day · net sales, 7 of 7 days net sales typical day rain
Typical = the median of the same weekday over the prior 8 weeks. Friday ran 11.4% above a typical Friday. Sunday, the week's only rainy day, ran 4.1% below.
By week · net sales, 14 weeks net sales 13-wk avg
Weeks end Sunday. The 13-week average ($34,650) uses completed weeks only.
The long view · direction only
Month to date vs the same month-to-date last year (Oct 1–25): +6.1%
Calendar: walk-in cooler service · Tue Oct 27, 7:00 am.
Schedule: next week is published; 1 open server shift (Sat dinner).
Farmers' market switches to winter hours · Thu Oct 29.
Service bookings & covers · phones · reviews · productivity
Mon Oct 19 – Sun Oct 25, 2026
Weekly guest check: POS 1,128 guests · reservation system 1,063 covers · difference −65 (−5.8%), inside the 20% tolerance. The two are different measures and are never added together.
Weekly guest check withheld: the reservation source did not finish, so covers cannot be compared with POS guests this week.
Reservations: last successful collection Sun Oct 25, 11:42 pm. This section is left blank instead of showing zeros. Reconnect, then rebuild the report.
Covers seated
–
No-show rate
–
Next 7 days
–
Reviews 26-week rating trend
4.43★−0.07vs 4.50 prior 13 wks · 7 new reviews
Persistent complaints (4 weeks): wait time 3 (1 this week); phone / booking 2 (1 this week). Repeated concerns stay visible even without a new spike.
Google 7 (avg 4.43) · 2 carried a complaint, 5 praise. Second review site missing this week (signed out).
Server sales per guest this week · owner version
Adjusted rank / server
Actual $/guest
Lift
Guests / shifts
Highest Maya R.
$38.90
+9.4%
142 / 5
Highest Devin K.
$36.10
+4.1%
128 / 5
Lowest Ana L.
$29.80
−6.2%
117 / 4
Lowest Chris T.
$31.20
−3.9%
136 / 5
Lift adjusts for party size and shift mix; minimum 2 shifts, 15 parties, 30 guests. Working more shifts does not raise the rank. These are metric comparisons, not employee ratings.
Server detail and labor cost are left out of the manager version. Only readers with wage access receive them.
Phones missed calls by day
10.7% of inbound calls missed 23 of 214, against 11.6% over 13 weeks
9 of the week's 23 missed calls fell during Friday and Saturday, 5–7 pm (39.1% of all missed).
Host-stand answer rate
91.4% ≥ 95% · missed▲ +1.8 ppvs 89.6%
Worst hour
Fri Oct 23, 5 pm 4 missed of 12 inbound
Productivity what the week's hours turned into
$69.22 net sales per labor hour ▲ +3.2%vs 13-wk avg
Labor % of net
25.6% ▼ −0.8 ppvs 13-wk avg
Hours worked vs scheduled
527 h worked of 541 h scheduled scheduled hours from Innate Scheduler
Void + comp % of gross
1.6% 1–4% band · within
Average turn by party size · POS check open to close
2 guests58.4 min148 parties
4 guests71.2 min41 parties
5+ guests86.5 min17 parties
Read these 2 flagged reviews
Sat Oct 24 · Google · ★★★☆☆
“The roast chicken was excellent and our server was lovely, but we waited almost 25 minutes past our reservation time and nobody came over to explain. We'd come back, just not on a Saturday.”
Sun Oct 25 · Google · ★★★☆☆
“Called three times Friday afternoon to move our Saturday booking and never got through. Food was good once we got there, but the phone situation needs fixing.”
Reviewers' words, shown as written. Invented for this sample.
Menu & dayparts wine · food · service periods · data notes
Mon Oct 19 – Sun Oct 25, 2026
Wine share of net, format split, and the rates behind them
17.8% wine share of net sales ≥ 18% · just under▲ +0.7 ppvs 17.1%, 13-week pooled
Format
Share
Net $
Units
Avg price
By the glass
53.5%
$3,480
232
$15.00
Half bottles
4.8%
$310
9
$34.44
Bottles
41.7%
$2,710
41
$66.10
Wine $ per guest
$5.76
Glasses / 100 guests
20.6
Bottles / 100 guests
3.6
Wine attach rate
61.4% 167 of 272 dinner checks had wine
Food category shares, top dishes, and what a table orders · changes vs the 13-week average
Entrée share of food $
46.2% ≥ 45% · met▲ +1.1 pp
Pasta share of food $
18.9% ▼ −0.8 pp
Dessert attach / 100 guests
18.4 ≥ 20 · missed
Starter attach / 100 guests
40.6
Category share of net sales · tick = 13-week pooled
Food72.9%−0.9 pp
Wine17.8%+0.7 pp
NA beverage5.2%+0.1 pp
Beer & cider4.1%+0.1 pp
Low-seller watch: side of sautéed greens (4 over 3 wks) and add anchovies (3 over 3 wks) sold 5 or fewer units in each of the last 3 weeks.
Entrées · top 3
Steak frites
96
$3.1K
Roast half chicken
88
$2.3K
Mushroom risotto
71
$1.6K
Pasta · top 3
Cacio e pepe
64
$1.2K
Rigatoni bolognese
58
$1.3K
Short rib pappardelle
41
$1.0K
Starters · top 3
Little gem salad
112
$1.6K
Burrata & tomatoes
84
$1.4K
Crispy calamari
77
$1.2K
Desserts · top 3
Olive oil cake
76
$836
Crème brûlée
63
$693
Affogato
48
$432
Units, then net sales. Ranked by units sold; the ranking and the number shown are editable per section.
Dayparts guests and average check by service period
1,128 guests on 512 checks · $71.25 average check · $32.34 per guest
Service period
Guests
Share of guests
Checks
Avg check
Per guest
Check vs 13-wk
Brunch Sat–Sun
196
17.4%
88
$58.18
$26.12
▲ +2.1%
Lunch
302
26.8%
152
$49.74
$25.03
▼ −1.4%
Dinner
630
55.9%
272
$87.50
$37.78
▲ +1.0%
Each order is assigned by the service period stamped in the POS. Average check = net ÷ checks; per guest = net ÷ guests. Brunch runs weekends only, so its baseline compares weekends to weekends.
Data notes what to keep in mind when reading the figures above
8 of 9 sources complete. Needs attention: the second review site (signed out; last successful sync 9 days before the report, stale after 8). Its reviews are missing this week.
7 of 9 sources complete. Reservations did not finish (last collection Sun Oct 25, 11:42 pm); covers, no-shows, and the forward book are blank, not zero. The second review site is signed out.
A review whose date is only approximate is listed but left out of the weekly count.
POS guests and reservation covers are different measures and are never added together. A difference over 20% is flagged for reconciliation.
Wine formats are mapped from POS menu groups. Dessert wines are counted by the glass.
From Innate Reporter
To Sample Bistro management team
Sent Mon Oct 26, 7:15 am
Weekly report · October 19–25, 2026
Good morning,
The weekly report for October 19–25 is ready. Sales, labor, guests, and calls cover all seven days.
Net sales$36,480+3.6% vs last week
Guests1,128+2.4%
Average check$71.25+1.2%
Missed calls10.7%−2.2 pp vs 4 wks
Three decisions are suggested for this week's meeting: phone coverage on Friday and Saturday evenings, dessert attach, and staffing for Halloween.
Read with caution:
The second review site is signed out, so its reviews are missing this week.
Reservations did not finish; covers and the forward book are blank until it reconnects.
One review has only an approximate date, so it's listed but not counted.
Open the full report
You receive this because you're on Sample Bistro's management list. PDF attachment: off.
Illustrative sample. Sample Bistro is fictional, and every number, name, and review is invented. The layout follows a report used every week at a real restaurant.
What's in it
What the weekly report will cover.
A new restaurant will start with a weekly report built from POS data alone. Each source it connects will add the sections that source can supply. Every section except the data notes can be switched off.
Overview and meeting
A scorecard of the measures you choose, each compared with last week, the 13-week average, and last year. Targets you set, and which ones the week crossed. Up to three suggested decisions, each with its evidence, kept apart from the commitments your team actually agrees to.
Sales and menu
Net sales by day and by week, month-to-date against last year, and a rolling 364-day view. Top dishes with units beside dollars, category mix, low sellers, wine by format, and each service period's guests and average check.
Labor
Hours worked and sales per labor hour for everyone, with labor cost and percentage only for readers with wage access. With Innate Scheduler connected, it also shows scheduled hours against hours worked, plus next week's open shifts.
Guest experience
Covers, no-shows, walk-in share, and next week's book. Missed calls by day and hour, with the worst hour named. New reviews with their ratings and, where the review site's terms allow it, the complaints that keep coming back.
Coming week
Private events and appointments from the management calendar, plus local events and holidays. Last week's observed weather is shown separately from any forecast.
Data notes
Every report says which sources arrived late, incomplete, or disagreeing, and how each number is defined. This section can't be switched off, so a failure can't be hidden.
Numbers you can check
Be clear about where the numbers come from.
These are the things that matter to me when I sit down with the report each week.
Missing is never zero
If a source fails, its section shows a gap and says why. A day with no data draws no bar, and a closed day is shown as closed only when there's evidence it was.
Units are never mixed
Orders, checks, POS guests, reservation covers, item units, and phone calls are counted separately. An average check is never computed from covers.
Fixed rules, not guesses
Every figure follows a written definition you can open in the report, and the same data gives the same report. No AI produces figures. If an optional AI summary is added later, it will be off by default and limited to describing numbers that have already been checked.
Suggestions are not commitments
The report can suggest a decision. Only your team can agree to one, with an owner and a date.
Each audience gets its own report
Wages and staff detail are left out of a manager's or kitchen copy entirely, not just hidden on screen. Access is checked again before every send.
Late data holds the report
If required data hasn't arrived, the report waits and tells the owner instead of sending incomplete numbers. An optional source that fails goes out marked as missing.
Setup and delivery
Connect your systems. Get your weekly report.
Each connection will follow the same steps: choose the provider, sign in, confirm it's the right restaurant, and preview the sections it adds. Reporter will only read from those systems. It will never change a menu, a schedule, a review, or a calendar.
By default the report is built every Monday at 7:00 am, covering the previous Monday to Sunday, and the email goes out at 7:15 to the people you choose.
The email will carry a short summary and a link to the full report. A PDF attachment will be optional.
Settings are written as plain questions, never codes. Changing "top 5 dishes" to "top 10" is meant to take two clicks.
The first planned point-of-sale connection is Toast. Others will follow.
Connectionsillustration
Point of saleSales, checks, guests, labor hoursConnected
Not yet. Scheduler comes first, then Food Cost, then Reporter. The report it’s based on already runs at my restaurant. You can join the trial program and tell us you’re interested in Reporter as it becomes available.
Does AI write the report?
No. Every number will come from fixed calculations on your data, and the same data always gives the same report. Suggested decisions come from written rules, such as "a target was missed three weeks running." Any AI summary would be optional and off by default, and it could only describe numbers that had already been checked.
Which point-of-sale systems will it work with?
Toast is the first planned connection. Reservation, phone, review, and calendar sources are planned as separate connections, and what each one can supply depends on what the provider allows. We won't list a system as supported until it actually works.
Will it compare us to a budget or show profit?
No. Reporter will compare each week with your own history and with targets you set. It won't import budgets or calculate profit, actual cost of goods, or payroll. Those belong to your accountant and your payroll system. Plate costs from Innate Food Cost are planned as an optional addition.
Can my managers get it without seeing wages?
Yes. Each audience gets its own version. A manager's or kitchen copy is built without wage and staff detail, so those figures never reach them.
What happens when a source breaks?
The report says so. A failed optional source leaves a labeled gap. If required data is late, the report waits and notifies the owner instead of sending incomplete numbers. Use the "Simulate a failed source" switch in the sample above to see it.
The restaurant trial
Be part of building the suite.
Reporter is still planned. The trial starts with Scheduler, with the other apps to follow as they’re released. Help test and use the software for at least three months with active feedback to qualify for the suite free for the life of your restaurant.